Glossy, synthetic, and very compressed, Ant Hamlyn’s botanicals are unlike anything you’d find in nature. He taps into the aesthetic of Y2K and the early 2000s, when early computer graphics, sci-fi, and teen punk melded into a kind of optimistic, tech-forward visual experience. Think early flip phones, polyurethane miniskirts, and Now That’s What I Call Music on CD.
Better Go South, which presents the artist’s current solo exhibition Soft // Chrome, describes the artist’s approach as “celebrating our human capacity to find beauty and connection even within the most manufactured environments.”
“Soft // Chrome Pink Daisies” (2026), hand-sewn metallic fabrics, fiber stuffing, polyurethane-coated fabric, upholstered architectural fiberboard, extruded acrylic, stainless steel fixings, 60 x 40 x 7 centimeters
Hamlyn’s playful, cartoonish works center around stuffed and squished polyurethane flowers, invoking a kind of “liquid metal” redux that nods to our past optimism about technology while acknowledging the anxieties that have evolved and continue to grow in the post-digital age.
See the works by appointment in Stuttgart, and check out more on the artist’s Instagram.
“Soft // Chrome Forget-Me-Nots” (2026), hand-sewn metallic fabrics, fiber stuffing, polyurethane-coated fabric, upholstered architectural fiberboard, extruded acrylic, stainless steel fixings, 60 x 40 x 7 centimeters
“Soft // Chrome Mushrooms” (2026), hand-sewn metallic fabrics, fiber stuffing, polyurethane-coated fabric, upholstered architectural fiberboard, extruded acrylic, stainless steel fixings, 120 × 35 × 7 centimeters
Detail of “Soft // Chrome Mushrooms”
“Red Hot Pokers” (2026), hand-sewn metallic fabrics, polyurethane-coated fabric, upholstered architectural fiberboard, extruded acrylic, stainless steel fixings, 60 x 40 x 7 centimeters
“Soft // Chrome Fly Traps” (2026), hand-sewn metallic fabrics, fiber stuffing, polyurethane-coated fabric, upholstered architectural fiberboard, extruded acrylic, stainless steel fixings, 60 x 40 x 7 centimeters
“Daisy Bouquet” (2026), hand-sewn metallic fabrics, polyurethane-coated fabric, upholstered architectural fiberboard, extruded acrylic, stainless steel fixings, 75 x 44 x 7 centimeters
“Soft // Chrome Purple Asters” (2026), hand-sewn metallic fabrics, fiber stuffing, polyurethane-coated fabric, upholstered architectural fiberboard, extruded acrylic, stainless steel fixings, 60 x 40 x 7 centimeters
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